Many electrical connectors are commercially available which are applied to a multiplicity of discrete cables, having an array of electrical terminals extending through passageways of the housing from terminations to the conductors of the wires forwardly to contact sections at least exposed across the mating face of the connector housing for mating with corresponding terminals of a mating connector. Commonly application apparatus for assembling such connectors to the wires utilizes tooling which is relatively complex in order to handle the end portions of the discrete wires for precise placement, and commonly the terminals are applied to the wires by crimping after which the thus-terminated wires are moved axially forwardly for the terminals to be extended through the passageways of the housing until fully seated therewithin.
In another style the terminals are previously assembled into the housing with rearward sections exposed along a common face of the housing, and the wires are positioned laterally beside transverse slotted beams of the terminal rearward ends and are urged laterally into the slotted beams which penetrate the wire insulation and engage the conductors therewithin for termination, after which a cover is fastened to the housing for insulation and protection. A similar connector assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 07/750,778 filed Mar. 31, 1989 and assigned to the assignee hereof, in which the cover includes a fluted wire-engaging inner surface to engage the wire ends and urge them into the slotted beams until terminated, with the cover securing itself in place to the housing.
In yet another approach, for multistrand conductors of 28 AWG twisted pair wires of a bundled cable, the stripped conductors of the plurality of wires are soldered to traces of a paddle card or transition card, which traces extend to a common forward edge and are then soldered to terminals of a connector for electrical connection thereto, and cover members are secured thereover. Similar such arrangements are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,679,868 and 4,682,828. In a variation of this arrangement, U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,319 discloses a molded paddle card whereon discrete traces extend from the forward card edge to molded wire-receiving grooves adapted to receive stripped wire ends thereinto for soldering, after which the paddle card is fastened to a connector having terminals secured therein solderable to the card's traces.
It is desired to provide a method of terminating a plurality of insulated small gage stranded wires and assembling a connector thereto.
It is desired to provide a housing assembly which is adapted to facilitate termination to discrete wires, wherein the termination of the terminals to the conductors is by soldering rather than crimping or insulation displacement.
It is desired to provide a housing assembly having components which are adapted for receipt of the discrete wire ends and further handling thereof as a unit during solder termination.